Meltdown
by angstyteenmuffin
Summary: The threads keeping the Demon and the Human world apart were unwinding.
1. Chapter 1

Errr, new Neuro writer here. I had this idea floating around my head for a few days, so I decided to put it to paper, or in this case, computer.

I hope everyone stays in character (for the most part anyway)

I consider this to take part after the battle with Sicks.

**Disclaimer: I do not own****Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro. Nor will I ever.**

**&**

_It was hot._

_Yako's eyes scanned the vast plain. A large group of deformed creatures were tormenting, was that, the sun? Yako blinked a few times, to be certain. Even though her eye clearly saw it, her brain seemed to not make any logical sense of it. _

_Yako wiped a bit of sweat from her brow. Thank goodness she was only wearing her school uniform, or else she would have been roasting. _

'_**STOMP'**_

_Yako nearly jumped ten feet as a hulking orge like monster lumbered towards her. A large club in hand, he only wore a stained (was that blood?) piece of cloth that only covered the bare essentials. Yako thought for sure it was the end of her, seeing as it was staring right at her. _

_Drawing her arms to protect her face, she waited for impact. Running was not an option, seeing as her legs seemed to be stuck on the floor. No amount of strength or will power would get them up. _

_A few seconds passed._

_Nothing had happened. Yako lowered her arms, and was greeted by nothing. Turning her head, she watched as the creature kept on walking down the path. _

_It was then that Yako noticed her hands. They were almost entirely see-through. They could still touch and grab things, as she tested, but they still were see-through. Another strange thing was the lack of a voice on her part. Yako would think the words, and even form them on her lips, but no sound would be uttered. _

_She blinked, rather surprised at herself on how calm she was. No matter, this was a dream._

_  
So she hoped. _

"_Ah, there you are."_

_Yako turned her head sharply at the man's voice, which seemed to be an odd mix of a growl and regular speech. He was an unfamiliar face, to be sure. It was hard to tell his face at all. The male figure had the head of a dog, but the body of a man. The dog (man?)had rather sharp looking canines coming over its jaw. It's, for 'it' seems like the best term, eyes were opened almost impossibly wide, and were on an upward slant. It's ears were like large loop earrings, going down to its shoulder. The nails, colored purple, were rather long and sharp. It sported cowboy outfit, complete with a hat and spurs. _

_Rather creepy, to be sure. On par with Neuro's bird form._

_Yako, didn't say anything. She was sure that would be the case even if her voice was working. _

_It rummaged around its pants pocket until taking out some type of fruit. At least, something that appeared to be fruit. Yako had to admit that it did look tasty. The fruit almost seemed to give off a glow; as though it was calling out to her. Yako knew right away that she had to taste that fruit. The dog creature gave a rather unpleasant grin (or at least something that looked like a grin) and kneeled down to Yako._

"_Ah, miss. This fruit is especially for you. It…will…sa…"  
_

**&**

_  
_**'BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP'**

Yako nearly fell out of bed.

Checking her alarm clock, she let out a let curse. She had woken up five minutes late. Wonderful.

Now she had to adjust her whole morning schedule on that fact. Of course, even if she arrived on time Neuro would still torture her, but the degree or harshness would increase if she were late. Thus, it was best to be on time when going to 'work'.

Yako went through all her morning rituals, making sure to be slightly faster then usual. When she arrived downstairs, she had successfully restored the time balance and would have enough time to blow through a full course meal.

After a rather filling breakfast, not made by her mother of course, Yako quickly left her house. It was Sunday, so she had the whole day to go looking for mysteries with Neuro. Maybe she would even be able to hang out with Kanae later. Hopefully. This would only happen if Neuro got his mystery. If not, he would be glad to torture her for a few hours.

Arriving at the office, Yako cautiously peered inside of the room, only opening the door a few inches. No violence yet. Yako was about to widen the door even more, until she heard Neuro's voice ring out.

"Well, what….planning….**Don't call me to tell me you don't know**….You know I loath….slaves are useless…. Yes. Yes….Just hurry it up…."

The middle part was said with particular malice, Yako mused. Everything else was all she could make out of Neuro's mumbling.

Lost in her thoughts and puzzlement, Yako didn't notice a large shadow looming over where the door would have been.

"Ah, it seems this slave thinks she is important enough to listen on its masters conversations. Anyone else would ask, 'Who does this slave think she is?'"

Yako looked up to the smiling face of Neuro, the one who called himself her master. A smiling face on Neuro was almost enough to have her running in the opposite direction. However, running was useless, something she knew well enough.

Neuro quickly had her in the office, with her face smashed onto the cold tile floor, which she knew hadn't been washed in a few days. Wonderful.

"N-Neuro. Who was that?" Ah, she was pushing her luck.

At once two needles were placed centimeters from her eyeballs. A particularly nasty grin resided on Neuro's face as he looked down on her.

"Oh my! Now the slave thinks she can ask questions about her master's business. What gall!"

Neuro had the nerve to sound aghast at what she had done. Thankfully, Godai had arrived. Of course, this didn't mean he would stop his torture of her, but it would bring up a different topic on conversation.

"Fuck man, I can't even walk in expecting a moment of peace, can I."

Neuro made no move to give Yako any relief, despite her trying to wiggle out of his grasp. As though sent by the gods, Neuro's hairpiece started to glow.

"Ah. Yako, there is a mystery to be found."

Quickly, all the pressure on her body was gone and she was allowed to rise from the floor. Godai glanced at them, boredom clearly on his face. It was obvious that he wanted to go with them, at least once. Of course, Neuro would have never allowed it.

Closing the door behind her, Yako quickly hurried over to Neuro's side. He made no move to slow down from his fast pace, so Yako had to take two or three steps for his one.

After walking five blocks, they arrived outside of a salon, with countless people going in and out. It was a pretty fancy looking salon, so rich women flocked around here. Neuro gave a tiny smirk, knowing he was going to get a pretty nice meal.

Within minutes, a shriek was heard from inside of the building, catching the attention of everyone in the vicinity. Yako and Neuro quickly hurried inside of the building.

**&**

Yako let out a sigh as she watched Neuro devour his meal. In all honesty, his bird face still spooked her; even though she had seen it more times then she could count. Not to mention, it reminded her that he wasn't human. It wasn't that he acted human, but his appearance was that of one.

Turning away from the woman, Neuro licked his lips. That meal would get him though the rest of the day. Yako watched as the woman was led away mumbling under her breath, and her eyes were wide open in fright.

She had committed the murder of her mother, and was around the age of twenty-four. Her name was Mitsuki, if Yako remembered correctly.

Neuro pointed a finger to the door, motioning that it was time to go. Yako quickly ran up to him and exited the building.

Only making it one block, Yako managed to trip over some object. Neuro made no move to help her, and watched with amusement as she groaned in pain from hitting the sidewalk. Yako looked down to see what she tripped on. It seemed to be a candle.

As she made to grab it, Neuro quickly snatched it off of the ground and inspected it. A small grin appeared on his face as he tossed the object to the ground.

"Come slave. Lets not waste any more time around here."

Yako nodded, slightly curious about the candle that Neuro had such a strong reaction too. As she pulled herself up from the ground, she grabbed and pocketed the candle, not worried about Neuro seeing, since he was already a few feet ahead of her.

As she hurried to catch up with him, a slow chill passed through her body. Yako turned her head around, to see if anyone was there. She frowned; she could have sworn someone was watching her.

**&**

Thus begins the story! Don't worry, it will pick up after this. I am planning to introduce characters in the next chapter, and the mystery will begin!

As for romance, I may just put in little hints, but nothing too major.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own****Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro. **

**&**

Yako and Neuro soon arrived back to the office. Yako reached her hand into the pocket of her skirt, and touched the candle. What a strange object to find on the ground. A lighter she could understand, but a candle? Yako pushed the matter out of her head as she reached for the doorknob. As she went to turn the handle, Neuro grabbed her head and threw her to the side. Yako gave a shout of surprise as she crashed towards the floor.

"Hey! What was that for you jerk!"

Neuro didn't reply as he quickly opened the door. A small smile appeared on his face as he looked into the room. Yako frowned in confusion. What did he just see?

Yako got up from the floor and watched as Neuro entered the room, quickly following suit.

Inside the office was a rather raggedy looking man. His hair was all messy and had a few cowlicks. His hair went down to his neck and was a light brown. He wore a dirtied suit and had a pair of black-rimmed glasses. She guessed his age around twenty or nineteen. He had a ditzy looking smile on his face as he quickly stood up. Yako guessed that he was around two or three inches shorter then Neuro. She also noticed he wore a strange looking bracelet that was a pretty gold and had engravings on it. She was too far away to see what they read, though. He also had a lighter in his hand that he seemed to have just closed.

The man walked over to Neuro, who had his hand outstretched for a handshake. The man seemed to be happy of that gesture, but as he went to put his hand in Neuro's, Neuro gripped his hand and threw him to the floor.

"Uwaah! Neuro-sama, that hurts!"

The man had the most annoying voice Yako had ever heard. It was high pitched and he sounded like a young boy. Neuro looked satisfied as he walked back to the front desk and took a seat.

The man then pointed his attention to Yako and gave a silly smile. Yako gave the man a fake smile. Who was he? The man walked up to her and grasped her hand, shaking it wildly.

"Ah, my name is Ghoul! You must be Yako-san! It is such a pleasure to meet you. Aw man, I don't really know what to say! Ooo, this is so embarrassing!"

The man, Ghoul, scratched the back of his head, a goofy smile still on his face. Yako's eye twitched. How annoying. Ghoul seemed to talk a lot, seeing as he was still mumbling things to her.

"Ghoul, why are you here?"

Ghoul turned to Neuro, his face turning serious. Well, as serious as he could look.

"Ah, well, should I be saying this in front of, you know, her? Ah, I don't know what to do! This is so confusing! Neuro-sama! Wha-"

"Enough! Yes, she can stay. Just continue with what you were going to tell me."

Even though Yako felt a twinge of annoyment, Neuro seemed calm about the man. Ghoul nodded and took a deep breath.

"Well, Suigin, you remember suigin right, cause I remember him, anyway, he's been pretty underground lately, and I mean underground as in no one has seen him in months. So I was like, come on, what's going on? So I got Cardio, you remember Cardio right? So I got him to search for Suigin. Cardio shows up a few days later, nearly dead. I tell you Neuro-sama, Suigin is up to something."

Neuro turned the chair around and spoke, "Ghoul, your staying up here until the matter gets straighten out. Suigin probably knows that you know he's up to something."

Swiveling the chair around, Neuro gave a wicked grin.

"This seems like a fine tasting mystery."

**&**

So, Ghoul ended up staying with them.

Yako swore to god she was going to kill him herself.

He was single handedly the most annoying person she had ever met in her entire life. He never shut up, he was clumsy, he would interrupt her, heck, he just gave off an aura of annoying. Yako used to pride herself in that she would just ignore an annoying person. Ghoul was impossible to ignore.

One day, when she arrived early for once and when Neuro curiously wasn't there, she finally snapped.

"Ah, Ghoul! Shut up! I can't take you anymore!"

Ghoul didn't seem to mind at her outburst. "Ah, I never told you did I? Gee, of course I never told you. Ah, I'm such a dummy!"

Yako blinked. "Told me what?"

"You know how Neuro eats mysteries? Well, of course you do. You work with him. Anyway, I kinda do that. Only I eat that hatred you feel when I'm around. I know I'm annoying, but its fun to get everyone bothered. People give off an aura when they are annoyed or hating someone. I thrive off of that. Err, I hope that made sense."

Yako nodded. Now she understood why she found him so damn annoying. It was in his nature.

"How did you get stuck with Neuro anyway?"

Ghoul smiled, "Well, he's the only one who would ignore me. It's a dumb reason, I know, but it meant something to me. Of course, I don't get to feed off him, but…"

He flicked the lighter for the umpteenth time. Yako raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Ghoul, why do you flick that lighter?"

Ghoul looked at her, then at the lighter.

"Well, you see, I'm a lower demon. I have to survive off the energy I eat in the demon world, and energy here. Neuro-sama is a much higher rank then I, so as long as he eats mysteries, he will be fine in the human world. As you might have guessed, I have to feed off fire's rays. This is only indoors. Outside, I can feed of the suns rays. But I need to be in direct contact. It won't work through a window. If I don't get the rays every ten minutes, I start to become more human. After thirty minutes, I'm full human. And I can't go back, you see. Anyway, as long as its even minimal contact, it sets the timer back all over again. It's a hassle, but I can deal with it."

Ghoul smiled. Within seconds, he had disappeared from sight. Yako gave a little jump, confused about what had just happened. Where had he gone? Yako blinked. Ah.

"As you might have guessed," Rang out a voice, "I'm invisible in my demon form. Only certain demons can see me now. Gee, this must be weird to a human."

Yako felt something rummaging in her pocket, causing her to give a little yelp. Soon, the candle came floating out. She had been carrying it around for a while since she had found it. The lighter came floating next to the candle. Yako watched as the lighter lit the candle. In a blaze of green, the candle burned quietly.

Ghoul was visible again. At least, she thought it was ghoul. The man in front of her was deadly pale. His face was slightly sunken in, and his eyes were a blaring red. He still looked rather human. Plus, she could only see the area from which the candles light would reach. Part of his legs and feet were still invisible. Assuming he had feet.

"Older demons like me have much more sunken faces. I'm still a pretty young demon. Well, I mean young for a demon. I'm still much older then you. Neuro is even older then me. He must be ancient to you."

Yako gave a frown, "How did you know I had the candle?"

"Demon objects give an aura then humans can't see. This is a special candle from the demon world. Look, the wick is green. I don't really like the color myself, but there you go…"

Yako moved in closer and saw that it was indeed green.

"This allows demons that can't see me, to see me. They sell them at any local store. There are more invisible demons then just me, you see."

"Are there other mystery eaters like Neuro?"

Ghoul scratched his head. "No. You see, Neuro is special."

However, Yako didn't get to press for more information, seeing as Neuro had just walked through the door. Ghoul, now back to his old form, hurried over to Neuro, but tripped at his feet. Neuro gave the body a kick as he walked over to the main desk. Yako scrambled, hurrying to catch the candle. As soon as Ghoul dropped it, it stopped burning. Plus, it didn't seem to have lost any wax at all.

Pocketing the candle, which was still warm, she glanced at Neuro. Now, why was he coming in late? Did it have something to do with the news that Ghoul had brought in? Neuro was always there when she showed it, no matter how early she was. Yako wondered if he slept here.

"Neuro-sama! Where were you! I was so lonely!"

How frank! Yako knew better at his point then ask dumb questions such as that.

"I was visiting the demon world." Neuro spoke from his chair.

Yako's face dropped. She was sure if she asked that question, she would have been punched or something.

Ghoul's face turned serious. Well, as serious as he could look.

"And? What's going on? Uwaaah, I wana know what's happening!"

And there it went.

Neuro pulled a lever, causing a large ice block to hit Ghoul. Where the lever came from, Yako had no idea.

"Slaves shouldn't meddle in their masters business," Was what he said simply.

Yako frowned. Something seemed off about Neuro. Could it have something to do with the visit to the demon world?

**&**

Err, the voice I was thinking for was Italy's voice from Hetalia. I was thinking of Italy in general.

Ugg, this was basically an information chapter. To. Much. Talking. OTL.

Anyway, the story will pick up now (hopefully)

Oh, and if you didn't understand something, please tell me. Well, as long as I can answer it. There are one or two things I'm holding in.


End file.
